Friday, January 08, 2010

Lately I've found that I'm not the only person at the table taking food photos. Somehow certain friends and colleagues have gotten into the craze too.

Okay so they're not quite at the stage where they're lugging around SLRs in their handbags, but half the time I look up from my camera to notice someone else snapping a photo of the same dish as well.

On my return to work after the Christmas break, colleagues confessed that they'd whipped out cameras at their family feasts, despite their relatives looking on with bemusement.

Consider me chuffed.

Because why not? There's a quiet moment or two, as you line up the photo, that you really take in and notice the dish - its plating, its aesthetics, its appetising appeal. Unless captured on camera, its beauty is fleeting - dismembered and digested until only crumbs remain. And we're not talking fancy fine dining - I've never heard such excitement around the table than a recent lunch at Hurricane's Bar & Grill.

Garlic roll $4.50

I'd been a fan of Hurricane's since visiting their original outlet at Bondi Beach several years ago. Their second dining outlet can be found at Darling Harbour, a long stretch of space that makes maximum use of the glass walled water views. The bar area, with a huge plasma screen that's tuned to the cricket, is empty but I'm told that it gets jam-packed with people at night, with waiting patrons often spilling into the dining section.

We order garlic bread to start, large rolls slathered with garlic butter and served on rustic chopping boards, but I find myself preferring the complimentary bread and butter, which has a nicer crust and a fluffier middle.

Salt and pepper calamari $16Lightly seasoned and served with rocket and aioli

A stack of salt and pepper calamari comes with a cheerful mix of leaves, a wedge of lemon and a pot of aioli. Whilst the calamari is tender and not too oily, the too-clean coating of batter make them look like they came frozen and out of a packet.

Scallops on cauliflower puree with peri peri vinagirette $19

Aware of my main meal ahead, I choose the scallops for entree, five juicy scallops served on a shell, although the bed of cauliflower pureee is a little bland and in need of more butter and seasoning.

Lamb ribs, full rack with chips $34

All is forgiven when the mains arrive. There's always a frisson of excitement as the ribs arrive, brontosaurus-sized slabs of meat that are greeted with widened eyes of disbelief.

The lamb ribs are thinner and darker than the pork ribs, the meat quite strong with the flavour of lamb. I find these richer to digest, and after eating two ribs, am quite sure I've had enough.

Pork ribs, full rack with chips $34

The pork ribs, on the other hand, seems much easier to eat. The flesh, basted with a South African marinade, is sweet and spicy, and so tender it falls off the bone.

Pork ribs, full rack with baked potato $34

I order my pork ribs with baked potato, but by the end of my meal I've hardly touched it anyway. The slab of ribs requires some pre-eating consideration - I tend to use my knife to slice apart every rib before commiting to fingers and then gnawing away to my heart's content.

Complimentary bibs

I draw a line at a bib, although waitstaff will offer them to you with compliments, even tying them on.

Pork rib

The table falls into silence, apart from an occasional sigh. There's something so satisfying about wrenching the meat from the ribs and scraping the bones clean with your teeth, revelling in the sticky and glorious mess of it all.

And so it goes on until the bowl in the middle of the table is piled high with bones.

Rib bones

Gelatiamo sorbet, 3 scoops $9.95

Dessert seems like an unfathomable though, but strangely enough, with a little coaxing, one will find a little more room after all. A trio of sorbets - passionfruit, lemon and raspberry - is probably the ideal way to cleanse the palate after a heavy meal. The lemon sorbet is particularly good, tart but sweet and ultimately refreshing.

Vanilla ice cream and Hurricane's own hot chocolate sauce $9.90

The two orders of vanilla ice cream are dispensed, but five minutes later the hot chocolate sauce still hasn't arrived, despite an assurance from our waitress. It's not the first glitch we'd experienced. Earlier on, a steak had been cooked incorrectly, then when a new steak arrived ten minutes later, it was served with the wrong sauce. It was sent back again and rectified.

Another gentle reminder finally prompts the appearane of the promised chocolate sauce. It's not really worth the wait. The ice cream is more ice than cream, and the chocolate sauce has a greasy aftertaste.

Mars Bar cheesecake $15.95

Mars Bar cheesecake is much more satisfying, even if the price does seem rather hefty. The cheesecake layer is almost sharp with the flavour of cream cheese, balanced by languid swirls of sweet caramel and a layer of chocolate ganache on top. The buttery biscuit base is good too, but the best bits are the slices of Mars Bar that garnish each slice.

So next time you're faced with a particularly impressive meal? Take a photo. You'll be glad you did.

28 Comments:

It really is catching! I've been taking photos of food for years, even though I didn't have a food blog, and gradually my Mum started doing it everywhere too! And my grandma does it occassionally now as well...

And yes to not only the high-end dining! I was at Chili's last night and couldn't resist taking photos. Mine is just the point-and-shoot kind of photography - not skilled at all. But I just always want the documentary proof/memory of the experience :)

P.S. $15.95 for Mars Bar Cheesecake? That does seems mildly like craziness. I feel that were I to pop out of my hotel room and buy cheesecake from one of the restaurants here in the US, for that price I'd get the whole cheesecake...

Haha you're so right, I have to smile a little when someone else besides me is taking photos of their food, I think it's great! I've never tried the seafood here before, I always want to save every bit of stomach space for pork ribs! I find the lamb ribs too lamby as well

Those ribs look so yummy! It's 9am and I'm thinking about ribs! Ah it's great to start my work day reading your posts. Although I don't go out to dine very often, if I ever did, I know the places to go!

Hi Sarah - I forgot I ordered a side salad too. lol. The rocket leaves were meant to help me cleanse the palate.

And oh, you mustn't be afraid to use your DSLR. Think of how unloved it must feel sitting at home all alone in the dark. lol. I find the added functionality of SLRs so much more valuable, and given my rarity at visiting them, fancy restaurants are when I want the best photos I can get :)

Hi Jen - It's been a while since I've been to Bondi, but I do have very fond memories of their ribs. I think the Darling Harbour space is quite big and always excessively busy which may impact on the kitchen.